Inverse Theory
by DhampyrX2
Summary: HBP Spoilers. In the last moments of the final battle several things have been resolved, including Severus Snape's loyalty. As the last blow is is struck in the fight between Harry Potter and Tom Marvolo Riddle, all present must ask themselves if any of
1. Chapter 1

Title: Inverse Theory

Author: DhampyrX2

Genre: X-over

Series: Sorcerous Solutions

Rating: PG-13, just to be safe

Summary: In the last moments of the final battle several things have been resolved, including Severus Snape's loyalty. As the last blow is is struck in the fight between Harry Potter and Tom Marvolo Riddle, all present must ask themselves if any of the devastation and pain that brought them there could have been prevented if they had just seen it coming in time. Severus is about to find out...

Timeframe: First at the end of Book Seven, Post-HBP; then MWPP, fifth year, just as Sirius and James hang Severus upside down.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Don't sue me, I'm poor.

* * *

All who witnessed the final battle between the Dark Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters versus Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix would have marveled at the poetic beauty hidden in the brutality around them, as if an epic opera had come to life and was reaching its final crescendo.

Well, that's that they'd think of they weren't ducking and dodging for their lives, anyway.

In a small area, closest to where the man once known as Tom Riddle and the son of James Potter and Lily Evans stared each other down in those tense moments that seem to last for eternity as history itself prepares to be changed irrevocably once again, two of each group stood shoulder to shoulder, wands raised as they psyched themselves up for one more push. Any who knew the combatants separately without the history shared between them would have expected a bloody massacre the second any of them saw the other. Of course the devil, as they say, is in the details.

On one side stood Lucius Malfoy, recently broken out of Azkaban prison by his fellow Death Eaters to bolster their ranks in the final battle; his platinum blonde hair long since torn from its traditional ponytail and his face was covered in blood and grime from and Sectumsempra curse one of the Order had used on Vincent Crabbe senior earlier in the fight when the thug had stood beside the eldest Malfoy. At Lucius' side stood Bellatrix Lestrange, also covered in a bit of gore, although hers was from spells she had cast herself, including a 'friendly fire' curse that helped tear her husband, Rudolphus, apart. The fact that it was one of four hexes or curses, one coming from each combatant, showed just how well regarded Bella's husband was. That is to say, many people on both sides wanted him very dead.

Opposite Bellatrix stood Sirius Black, her cousin., recently freed from the limbo of the Veil Bella had trapped him in as a final proof of loyalty by the unlikely wizard at his side facing down Lucius.

Lucius' nominal opponent was one he had called friend for over twenty years. A man he had named as godfather to Lucius' only son, Draco. A man that protected Draco still by petrifying him and leaving him under the care of the house elves Dobby and Winky with explicit instructions to keep the young man away from the battle. That man, one thought a traitor to each side at one time, now proven through evidence Sirius had access to as a loyal member of the Order before he ever took the Dark Mark, was the Half-blood Prince Severus Snape.

"You filthy traitor," Lucius growled, his usual cultured tones discarded in the heat of battle.

"He's a madman, Lucius. Trying to stay close enough to get you both free isn't betrayal. It's trying to save all I had left. Doubly so after what happened to Lily," Snape purred, seemingly unperturbed by the man's ire. "Or would you have preferred the I abandoned all that I cared for and let Draco come to see what has transpired here? Look around you man! This is the Dark Lord's future! There is nothing about protecting our culture and strengthening our world here. Only an abused little boy striking back at all of humanity because he lacked the stones to deal with his own problems or get help from those that would have offered! Being Slytherin's heir doesn't make him Salazar's second coming. It makes him a blight on all we were taught to hold dear! An embarrassment to the word Wizard! Hell the daft fool doesn't even know the difference between a wizard and a sorcerer. He called himself the 'greatest sorcerer ever' in front of Potter after you fiasco with his diary and the Weasley girl. If that man could cast cast so much as a spark when trying a Digger Volt I'll eat my wand!" Severus ranted in return.

"You insolent blasphemous." Lucius snarled as he readied his wand.

"He's right," Bellatrix responded quietly. A tone of voice few outside of those around her would have thought her capable of. "The Dark Lord is many things, but not a sorcerer. My mother could touch true sorcery. As could Severus' father, who was labeled a muggle. Sorcery is a different art, outside of Ministry law. If anyone could stay awake for the first week of Binns' history classes they might remember that. Not that I knew Sev had inherited sorcery power until we were well out of school."

"Any magic the Ministry can't monitor and regulate is forbidden. I'd have been expelled if I had used sorcery before graduation. Although I am surprised. Didn't you ever wonder why my mother, as conniving of a noble pureblood Slytherin as there ever was, would seek out an marry a _muggle_?" Snape taunted. The more verbal this became, the better equipped he was to handle it without having to kill either Bella or Lucius. For all that Bella had seemed to loathe him after her stay in Azkaban, some bonds do not break so easily as for him to wish her harm.

"It would have put a different spin on our schoolyard fights if you had used your power, that's for certain," Sirius put in with a small chuckle. He had only come to know about what was being said some weeks earlier, after Snape snuck into the ruined Department of Mysteries and freed him. It was in that moment that he was never more pleased that Dumbledore had made Sirius the bonder to the Unbreakable Vow the man took to the Order of the Phoenix to do all he could to protect Harry Potter and destroy Voldemort. Without that vote of confidence from his worst enemy to get them to listen to him, Snape would never had been able to give the Order the intelligence he had gathered to bring this battle about. And if Snape hadn't needed Sirius, Sirius was certain the forbidding Potions Master would have left him to rot for all eternity.

"It doesn't matter," Lucius intoned imperially. "You have betrayed you friends, your family, and your house, Severus. You and that blood traitor beside you will pay for that."

"**DEMONA CRYSTAL**" Snape snapped with a wave of his free hand. In a matter of a second, Lucius Malfoy was completely encased in a solid crystal.

Bella raised her wand, ready to defend herself in the suddenly uneven odds, when Snape raised his hand. "Just a moment, Trixie. Let me dissolve enough to free his nose, at least. Draco would never forgive me if I let the prat suffocate," he soothed as he touched the crystal at the point where Lucius' face was, his face as mast of stern concentration. Soon the clear prison began to recede enough that the nose and tip of the mouth were free. Not enough to speak, thankfully for all who would have had to hear the diatribe Lucius would have spouted at this indignity, but enough to breathe and be fed a liquid diet until the spell was broken.

"You've been practicing," Bellatrix noted with a critical eyes as she watched the sallow skinned man work.

"I needed something to over the years while this came to a head. Potions research can only fill so many idle hours at Spinner's End over the summers before I was shackled with caring for Voldemort's pet rat," Snape replied with his typical sarcasm.

"Nice to see you were busy while I was left to rot in that hellhole," Bella sneered back.

"Not like you were alone there, cousin," Sirius snorted in derision. He knew Bella well enough to know she had been using her twisted idea of kid gloves two years ago against he and Tonks both. For someone who can cast the Avada Kedavra as easily as a Windgadium Leviosa, the fact she used stunning hexes was a glaring clue to her intentions. Bellatrix was guilty of many crimes and perversions, wanting her family dead was not among them.

"You brought that on yourself, you miserable prat! Honestly, letting _Wormtail_ outsmart you! You and your half cocked-anger driven shite! That's how you got caught in the Veil too! Running off without thinking! You wouldn't have lasted a month at Hogwarts without the werewolf and Potter to hold your hand. You probably would have gotten yourself off on something as stupid as trying a handstand on the Astronomy tower window!" Bella screeched in agitation.

"Well, he does have a habit of not thinking things through. And they would have allowed him in Azkaban rightly without certain intervention," Snape purred malevolently as he recalled an incident with himself, a lupine form Remus, and Sirius nearly leading him to his death save for the intervention of James Potter.

Sirius actually looked chagrined at the two teaming of to verbally abuse him. For a moment, it was like they were kids again. Like the deadly battle brewing all around them wasn't real. The illusion was shattered when Bella let out a muted squeak as a pair of words rang out from behind where the three were situated.

"**_Avada KEDAVRA!_**" spat Neville Longbottom, followed with a contemptuous, "that was for my parents you miserable harpy."

Snape was torn at the sight of Bella's lifeless body falling to ground as he looked into Neville's eyes. Certainly, the boy had the right to kill her. She had tortured his parents to insanity, after all. But, she was also one of the few people Snape cared for. As he racked his brain to try to understand what the proper play here would be, his attention was diverted by the light show of various hexes and spells erupting from where Potter and Voldemort stood, one of which hit Neville and sent him flying back into a more chaotic part of the battlefield where he moaned and passed out.

"They've begun," Sirius intoned solemnly.

"I'd noticed," Was Snape's acerbic reply.

"Does Harry understand what must be done?" Sirius asked with an uncharacteristically sorrowful tone.

"For the most part. He knows that he himself is the last Horcrux, and the Voldemort will never use lethal force against him now that the others are gone. That half-witted prophecy about one destroying the other gave him some small hope he could walk away from this, but he knows deep down that he won't. I counciled him on what was to come just as Albus ordered," Snape responded with a similar sorrow in his voice.

"He's too young to be asked to do this," Sirius fumed angrily.

"I agree. Too innocent as well, despite what this war has done. Neville should never have had to kill Bella. Never should have the hate needed to. Bella never should have tortured his parents. She never should have lost the baby to a hex thrown in a raid led by Frank and Alice Longbottom, that made her fall completely into the darkness we all toyed with then like the foolish children we were. She never should have joined Voldemort to begin with. There is a similar tale of sorrow in each person here, on both sides of this war, that are saturated with 'if only's'. If only Riddle's father had been a good man and raised his son this may have been prevented. If only Albus had taken more decisive steps back then to curb and lead the boy instead of writing him off because he was Slytherin's heir. If only I had realized what was going to happen and been in time to save James and Lily. If only the Ministry had worked with us in the beginning to stop this instead of burying it. That's the problem. Too many 'if only's' and no way to apply them," Snape responded.

"I can't do this. He's my godson. I just...can't." Sirius said finally as he continued to watch the battle unfold.

"I know. Why do you think Albus recruited me that night after the shack incident? He needed someone that could ignore his morals for the greater good. Someone that could strike the final blow in spite of himself. Some one destined to be one more sacrificial lamb," Snape replied emotionlessly.

"What?" Sirius inquired in confusion.

Snape's answer was to turn away from Harry and Voldemort, heedless of his own safety in doing so, and drop his wand to the ground. He raised bother hands as be began to chant in a forgotten language, before finishing the the shouted words, "**_BOMB di WIND!_**" As he finished, a small ball of white light the size of a cantaloupe flew from his hands to the ground between him and those he faced with the speed of a arrow let loose from a bow and struck it. As it hit, it exploded in a maelstrom of gale-force winds that blew everyone, Death Eater and Order Member alike, a good 150 meters back away from Voldemort and Harry.

"What the devil are you doing, Snape?" Sirius asked in alarm.

"What I have to. What no one else on our side could. Just stay behind me and promise to help Nymphadora watch over Draco. The last thing this world needs is a final battle without a proper eyewitness," Snape ordered as he stepped a few paces closer to the dueling pair and raised his hands to his chest.

"You fool! You can't do this! The binding. You took an unbreakable vow to protect Harry, Snivellus! Don't you know that that means?" Sirius ranted as he realized what the spy beside him planned to do.

"Yes, three for the price of two. You can put it on my bloody headstone. Now stand back, mutt, or I'll put you in a much more painful version of what I used to bind Lucius," Snape snapped before he returned his attention to Harry and Voldemort.

Sirius looked ready to argue, but thought better of it. No matter how much it twisted him, he knew this had to be done. That Harry and Voldemort had to die together to end this nightmare. Finally he fell back onto an old friend, his cavalier attitude, to give him the strength for one more barb, "I suppose I'll see you in Hell then, Snivellus. Try to save me a good seat. Something not too warm, and with a view of what Bella will do when she realizes you called her Trixie again before she died."

"If I'm in Hell, I'll save you whatever position I can, rest assured, Black. Personally, though, I'm hoping to return to the Sea of Chaos like all good sorcerers. Maybe I'll even see Bella and Lily there. Or perhaps I'll be transformed into a mazoku, and can finally feed off of the hate and fear my students had for me instead of just rolling my eyes at their weakness," Snape replied evenly.

Those were his last words to Sirius Black before his attention turned to the still dueling pair of wizards and he prepared to finish this fight in one last decisive blow.

"_Darkness beyond twilight. Crimson beyond the blood which flows,_

_buried in the flow if tine._

_In thy great Name, I pledge myself to Darkness!_

_Let the Fools who stand before me be destroyed by the POWER you and I Possess!_

_**DRAGON SLAVE!**_"

And with those words, the second most powerful sorcerous Black Magic spell spewed forth in a crimson flare of pure destruction as Severus called forth the power to the Lord of Nightmares herself (yes she's female and calls herself 'Lord'. Are you going to argue with a creation-deity over gender appropriate titles?) to wipe out everything in front of him for approximately on square mile. The effort left his hair snow while as he fell to the ground in a boneless heap, first from exhaustion, then from the magic of his broken vow kicking in to end his existence.

Sirius wanted to just stand there in awe of the power Snape had unleashed, but his legs propelled him to the side of his fallen childhood enemy as he knelt down to check on him.

"Tell them. Tell them I regret only the loss of Lily and her son. And they can rot in hell for their hypocrisy. But...I will miss _some _of them," Snape weakly rasped before he gave a shuddering cough, and died in the arms of his boyhood nemesis.

"I'll tell them, Severus. You have my word on that," Sirius Black vowed, even as he gave a tearful smile and added, "Had to go out with an insult. I hope Albus, Harry, Lily and James straighted your arse out one you get to Heaven, you greasy git. You certainly earned your place there."

END PART ONE


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Inverse Theory

Author: DhampyrX2

Genre: X-over

Series: Sorcerous Solutions

Rating: PG-13, just to be safe

Summary: In the last moments of the final battle several things have been resolved, including Severus Snape's loyalty. As the last blow is is struck in the fight between Harry Potter and Tom Marvolo Riddle, all present must ask themselves if any of the devastation and pain that brought them there could have been prevented if they had just seen it coming in time. Severus is about to find out...

Timeframe: First at the end of Book Seven, Post-HBP; then MWPP, fifth year, just as Sirius and James hang Severus upside down.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Don't sue me, I'm poor.

* * *

Author Notes: I don't know why I'm putting this down. The same people that are wailing over certain deaths obviously are the ones that didn't read the intro and timeframe stuff before, but still it's there for them. Either way, here's the next installment.

Author's note 2: About the Dragon Slave, oops, my bad. Sorry. Shabranigdo is the power source for the Dragon Slave, not L-sama. Well, L-sama created who whole universe, so it might be a part of her in the sense it come _from _the universe, but she's not the direct link. As for the Ragna Blade being more powerful than the Dragon Slave, that's a matter of perspective. Ragna is powered by L-sama, yes, but it's only effective to the range of the blade. If you lose control of it, it dies out once your life force gives out. Some might call it more powerful than the Giga Slave because it's a more controlled version of the same energy, but I think most will agree that something that opens a void that could conceivably engulf the whole world unchecked is more powerful. In that sense, the Dragon Slave beats the Ragna Blade for the simple fact it takes everything out for a square mile. Call me old school with my Slayers but I think of the top two as the two 'slave' spells. It's just how I see it.

* * *

The first thing Severus experienced after the sensation of fading away was peace. The kind of peace that almost made him want to forget his last dark fantasy about having the strength left to punch that prat Sirius Black in the jollies as his final act. ti felt like he was home for the first time in his miserable existence.

The second sensation was the though, "Well shit. I guess I am dead," as he noticed the formless black void surrounding him.

The third was a need to genuflect repeatedly as he caught sight of a figure with flowing blonde hair standing before him and over him, as the figure was at least five times his size, floating there in the sea of unbroken shadows around them.

"Be at peace my child, you are home within me once more," a soothing voice declared from all around him as he looked into the lidded eyes of the goddess that created the four realms, she from whom all came, L-sama herself, the Lord of Nightmares.

"My Lord. Then this is..." Severus asked in a voice filled with hope.

"Yes, Severus, you have returned to the Sea of Chaos. As I said, descendant of Lina, you are home," the deity state with a small quirk of her lips.

Despite the fact she looked more than half asleep, Severus felt a warmth the likes of which one would expect if she were beaming at him like a proud mother, while hugging the stuffing out of him. There were unshed tears in his ethereal eyes as he let out a shaky, "I...I never thought I'd...be accepted here. I thought that the wizardry would..."

"That your mother's 'foolish wand waving' would somehow taint you and remove you from me," L-sama interjected with ill concealed ire. "A lie. A lie your father forced into you from the time you were small. If not for your later tutors and the aid of the Saillune Princess in your youth, I may have lost you totally just so you could escape him. He has met his place. He will not torment you here, my child. He was a blight on your birthright with his desires to suppress you. He feared your power, a power not seen since the time sorcery was well known, and my influence undisputed. Now he can remain second to you for all time. He could not call upon Shabranigdo's power, nor could he face me."

The mention of the 'Saillune Princess' brought old pain to life again in Snape's heart as he remembered just _who_ that forgotten hereditary princess was. A fact that the Ministry overlooked as well, which allowed her to be invited to Hogwarts when she showed a talent for wand waving. That princess was Lily Evans nee Potter, descended from the white sorceress Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun. Ironic really, when one considered that Bella's genealogy could be traced back to the later generations of the house of Naga the White Serpent, whom was rumored to be Amelia's older sister. One might say Bella was a serpent from time immemorial, but they would also imply the most devastating female Death Eater and the mother of the Boy Who Lived were distant cousins. That tidbit certainly would have turned a few heads, no matter how many generations the relations were apart.

Still, thoughts of Lily and Bella brought up an interesting question. One, Severus had no chance to voice. "..."

"No, scion of the House of Inverse, they are not with me. The White Princess resides with her mate, son, and mentor in the place those beyond me go for their just rewards. Such was her choice, to stay with her family. The Black Serpent was too twisted by her choices, her peers, and her false mate. She could no longer hear me when I called to her beyond the Veil. She is where your sire is," L-sama sorrowfully replied.

/In Hell./ Snape's mind painfully elaborated. /Oh Bella. I was looking so forward to seeing you without Azkaban's sickness hurting you./

"Do you still wish to see that, my child?" the Lord of Nightmares inquired in a kind tone.

"What?" Severus asked, startled by the question.

"Do you wish to see your friends again. To see them before they were tainted by the darkness of the would be Wizard's King? Yes. You do desire that. To see them, the child of the White Princess, and even your most hated enemies once more. After all, you said it yourself...

* * *

"...There is a similar tale of sorrow in each person here, on both sides of this war, that are saturated with 'if only's'. If only Riddle's father had been a good man and raised his son this may have been prevented. If only Albus had taken more decisive steps back then to curb and lead the boy instead of writing him off because he was Slytherin's heir. If only I had realized what was going to happen and been in time to save James and Lily. If only the Ministry had worked with us in the beginning to stop this instead of burying it. That's the problem. Too many 'if only's' and no way to apply them,"...

* * *

Snape's voice rang out around them as a picture of the recent final battle appeared off to his left for he and L-sama to watch. "Too many if only's indeed. You showed great wisdom for one so young. And so foolish," L-sama mused with another minimal grin from her yet unopened eyes.

"Wisdom I might have, Dark Mother, but I have no way to apply it. They, and I, are dead," Severus responded evenly. It was getting harder to get passionate about his pain. He just felt too complete to worry about it in L-sama's presence.

"And yet, if you could change it, any of it, would you, Young Inverse?" L-sama asked just as evenly.

"Yes. There are many things I wish I had done differently. Of course, it is hard to say _what_ I would change if I could. After all I couldn't, for example, kill James Potter in our youth to save Lily from giving birth to the child that lead to her death, as I had often fantasized about. To deprive her of a family she would leave _you_ to be with is unthinkable. I'm not even sure how to do some things. Lucius was too pretentious to listen to me, so I doubt I could have saved him. And...I wouldn't of known how to save Bella, short of killing the misogynistic, closet fey, sycophant her shrew of an aunt sold her off to in order to redress the 'shameful crime' of allowing Andie to escape the family and marry her muggleborn husband with only her removal from the family tapestry as her punishment. That pureblood marriage contract was a key factor in destroying her happiness, but it was hardly the only factor. I would have poisoned Rudolphus and Rastaban both by my second year of I knew what they were truly capable of bringing to my friends," Snape replied critically. It was interesting to brainstorm like this, but it really mattered little. All parties mentioned, save Lucius, were dead. The only success Severus ever truly managed was saving Draco. Granted, the boy would never forgive him for dying like that after making certain his father was going back to prison with that Demona Crystal, but still at least he would live to not forgive his godfather.

"And yet the part of you still mortal, the part that barely conceives what it means to float here, with me and within me upon the Sea of Chaos, does want that chance. It does sing with 'if only's'," L-sama chided with a wag of her finger, as if correcting a mischievous child for trying to change the subject.

"I suppose it does at that," Severus responded with a shrug.

The Lord of Nightmares just stared at him after he said that. Stared at him for an unfathomable amount of time, for indeed time had no meaning here upon the Sea of Chaos, before she smiled her sleepy half smile again and her voice rang once more from her unopened mouth, "Then I shall give you that chance, my nearly lost child. I shall return you to a key point, and you shall have the chance to redress that which has passed. To find happiness for yourself, and for those whom were denied it as matters have taken place," she declared dreamily.

Severus knew not what to say. If fact he just floated there, mouth agape, for what may well have been an eternity, before he incredulously inquired, "Why?"

"Why not?" was L-sama's playful reply. "Remember where you are, scion of Inverse. You float upon the Sea of _CHAOS_. From this entropy that I am, the four pillars of the four worlds were created. All was made from chaos and nothingness, made for ME, to make what is reality. At it's very truest essence, chaos is change. You desire chaos, you desire change, and it is in my nature and my power to grant it. I shall return your mind to the time you knew of as your fifth year of schooling in magic of wands, to your body of that time. From there, what you do shall be yours to decide. But know this, I will not leave you weak. As with your mind, so shall I return your control over your sorcery. No longer will you simply be a wizard in training, but a full sorcerer of the first Order, MY Order, as well."

"L-sama...this is. I don't know what to say. I humbly thank you for this opportunity," Snape finally responded with a bow of his head.

"Thanks are not needed. The changes you shall bring will be all that ask for. But know this, Scion of the House of Inverse, just as chaos is change, so is it contradiction; so that some thing will NOT be changed. You will not prevent the conception of the one known as Harry Potter through the White Princess and her mate. Though protecting him was her death once, he is still a child of Prophecy, and must come to be. Nor will you destroy the one called Voldemort until after Harry of marked and ready to face him. He too, is a child of Prophecy, and must face his destiny in its truest time. Do you understand this?" L-sama instructed imperially, her tone leaving no room for argument.

"I understand, My Lord," Snape responded evenly and without fear. He would not be fool enough to defy L-sama. None, save perhaps Tom Riddle, were ever quite that much of a fool.

"I know," L-sama retorted kindly, as she gave another of her warming smiles to him. "May my blessings smile upon you in this chance, my child. I shall enjoy looking upon the changes when you return to me once more."

And with that, Severus Snape faded from the Sea of Chaos...

* * *

...only to hear something he had last heard just over two decades ago.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" shouted an all too familiar voice from Snape's sudden compromised position of being hung upside down by Black and Potter as she drew her wand on them.

"Don't make you hex you Evans." James warned nervously.

Snape knew how this drama played out. He called Lily a mudblood in a fit of embarrassed anger, taking a page from the arguments his parents were fond of before the debilitating spells took place, she was mortified with him and wouldn't speak to him for weeks, he became more hated by the bystanders in his little war with the Maridiots, and a crappy time was to be had by all. Well, that's what happened when you pit two fifteen year old bullies against a fifteen year old with few recourses to defend himself at the time. Of course two decades of revising how it should have been handled, and being the most fearsome teacher to ever remove a thousand points for Gryffindor on a bad week whether they knew it or not, changed the playing field.

"What's the matter, Potter?" Severus calmly drawled. "Embarrassed she caught you trying to see forcibly get me starkers when you keep pestering her to hide you preferences? I suppose I should say I'm flattered you and Black want a third for your little games, but I just don't swing that way. By the way, Miss Evans, as much as I appreciate the sentiment, I doubt these fumbles have the brains to know what to do with me, much less execute their sick little gang-rape fantasies."

All present looked on in jaw-dropped shock at the cruel and cutting remark the young, in their eyes, Slytherin had uttered.

"Why you miserable slimy little..." Sirius began to growl.

"What's the matter, Black? Afraid Potter might really be straying from your exclusive butt-piracy together after one off color comment? Well, neither of you were known for faithfulness, so I guess I can see your point." Snape responded as he concentrated on breaking the body bind he was in. He might have been wandless, but he knew enough magic, wandless wizardry and sorcery alike, to concentrate his power to.../Ah! There it goes./ he thought with a proud smile as a burst of unrefined power overwhelmed the half-trained James' hex and freed his arms.

The loud crack, and sudden mobility of the Slytherin was enough to halt Sirius in his tracks in confusion, even as Lily smiled in satisfaction. She didn't know how he did it, but she sure knew what sorcery _felt_ like compared to witchcraft at this distance. She just hoped Severus didn't get too extreme. Just as she had a talent for White Sorcery; Severus, like most Inverses before him, had a talent for Black Sorcery. Most of what he mentioned his father trained him in after they discovered each other's talents second year were the types of things hard to explain away without an expulsion. Still, those prats had a good thrashing coming.

"Not this time, little boy," Severus sneered with a savage grin, _"Source of all power, light which burns beyond crimson, gather into my hand..._ FIREBALL!" he chanted as he tossed the resultant ball of flame the size of a melon at Black's feet. "Oh my, look who doesn't need a wand to kick both your arses," Severus added with a gallows smile as he looked back and forth between the shocked and afraid eyes of his two primary tormentors.

James, being the more level-headed of the two antagonistic Marauders, took a step back, even as Sirius gathered his Gryffindor courage to make a blind run for Snape. This talent for weird wandless magic might be a new wrinkle, but that didn't mean he was going to be afraid of Snivelly. Nobody noticed the sudden lack of either Remus or Wormtail.

"Oh, yes, Sirius. _Do_ try again. You have no idea how long I've waited to show you I'm not going to take you shite any more," Snape leered. Once Sirius was foolhardy enough to make his rush, Severus smiled nastily as he spat "_Mono Volt!" _and stopped the bigger boy right in his tracks with a painful shock of electricity.

Severus was contemplating what spell to use next, something really painful if he could manage it, when a voice rang out to end his fun. "MISTER SNAPE!" Deputy Headmistress McGonagall snapped as she stormed toward the scene.

"Yes, Minerva?" Snape blandly returned out of reflex. /Probably wants to whine about points I stole form her precious little Gryffs, or berate me about some dunderheaded first year I made cry in Potions aga...oh no./ he thought as he realized what was wrong with that dynamic just as she seized his arm and began to drag him toward Albus' office while ordering Potter to take Black to the Poppy Pompherey for medical attention, before she berated him for his lack of manners and cheeky familiarity on top of her other complaints.

/Well, L-sama, you wanted chaos. Here's your first taste at me expense./ he thought sourly as he was dragged away.

END PART 2


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Inverse Theory

Author: DhampyrX2

Genre: X-over

Series: Sorcerous Solutions

Rating: PG-13, just to be safe

Summary: In the last moments of the final battle several things have been resolved, including Severus Snape's loyalty. As the last blow is struck in the fight between Harry Potter and Tom Marvolo Riddle, all present must ask themselves if any of the devastation and pain that brought them there could have been prevented if they had just seen it coming in time. Severus is about to find out...

Timeframe: First at the end of Book Seven, Post-HBP; then MWPP, fifth year, just as Sirius and James hang Severus upside down.

OOC: I'm not too pleased with this part, but I'm posting it anyway. Let me know if it it's rubbish.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Don't sue me, I'm poor.

* * *

After the first fifteen minutes of actually having to sit in the chair on front of Albus' desk, Severus could unequivocally state that while it might be worth it just to see the old man alive again; the indignity of being dragged there, on top of having to use his occlumency skills to throw off the Headmaster's mental probes, left him feeling like it was not.

The distinct lack of a twinkle in Dumbledore's eye to show how disappointed the old man was wasn't helping either.

"Severus," Albus began with a resigned tone.

"Yes, Headmaster?" the young scion of the House of Inverse asked in his usual imperious tones, before regretfully realizing that the hard earned aloofness of a seasoned spy and warrior in his early forties should not have been seen on the face of a fifth year student. Even one like Severus Snape. The Half-Blood Prince valiantly suppressed the wince he wanted to let loose as Albus' attempts at legilimency doubled in intensity without changing anything in the older man's façade.

"I understand you had a bit of an… altercation with some of the other students after your DADA O.W.L. today," the old wizard ventured.

"If by altercation, you mean that James Potter and Sirius Black ganged up on and attacked me without provocation, while a /prefect/ in the form of Remus Lupin did nothing to intervene in the matter. After which I was dragged off to you to be punished after I successfully began to defend myself from said unsolicited attack while they were simply sent to be patched up by Poppy without so much as an unkind word, then yes, you could say that," Severus blandly returned.

The utter lack of emotion in his words made Minerva and Albus share a worried look. It just wasn't natural to say something like that without some sadness or anger in your voice. Doubly so for a child. This was more troublesome than they had fist thought, if that were possible.

"And just how did you… defend yourself, Severus?" Dumbledore asked in his usual kindly old grandfather type of way.

Snape actually smirked devilishly as he responded, "I think you know already, old man. You think I failed to see Lupin take off like he did? I imagine you could repeat the spell word for word if you wanted to. Because it's not the unrefined burst of power I used to break the body-bind and levitation charms that concerns you, now is it? It's the bit of an old puzzle my mother left by marrying a muggle falling into place that had you send the Deputy Headmistress out to drag me off to you like some kind of ill tempered ragamuffin."

Albus was silent and contemplative again for several moments, even as Minerva stiffened at the implied displeasure Snape alluded to in her treatment of him. "Then you no doubt see my dilemma," Albus finally said.

If he thought his words would dampen the grin on the face of Eileen Prince's only son, he was gravely mistaken. If anything, Severus' grin just grew from devilish to smug, bordering even on content. It almost seemed as if the boy had been waiting decades to have something over on the Headmaster, and he was finally about to make his play.

"You will do… absolutely nothing," Severus stated with proud certainty.

McGonagall let out an outraged squeak at the boy's smarmy cheek toward Albus' authority as she stated, "Now see here, young man!"

Her coming tirade of maternal discipline was cut off, however, with a gesture from Dumbledore. "Let the boy speak, Minerva," Albus commanded with an even timbre. This conversation grew more and more interesting, and he wanted to see where the young Slytherin was heading with it. "He knows as well as anyone the punishments for using, and concealing, sorcery in the Wizarding World."

"Indeed. Expulsion, banishment, loss of my wand, the terrible scandal it would cause for the school to have allowed a sorcerer to even be touched by the oh so pure light of wizardry. Please spare me the histrionics. I'm not fool enough to imply the scandal alone will keep your silence. Rather, it's what I know that will keep this under the proverbial rug," Snape returned blandly, as if the entire conversation was too bothersome to follow with his whole attention.

"And what precisely do you think you know?" Albus inquires seriously.

"Quite a lot of things. The wizard terrorist Voldemort's real name is Tom Marvolo Riddle, you have a scar that doubles as a map of the Muggle London Underground on your leg, McGonagall occasionally secretly goes trolling for rats in her animagus form with Filch's cat on nights where she is not patrolling, you knowingly endangered every student and teacher here by allowing an undeclared werewolf in the form of Remus Lupin to study here unsupervised, and even went so far as to cover for his unregistered animagus friends, the location of the kitchens is behind the portrait of the fruit bowl, and you have to tickle the pear to get in…" Severus prattled off as he watched both teachers go ashen at his some of his declarations.

"I think I have heard enough," Albus declared in shock.

"Yes, knowing the boy you were about to bully into something you wanted done, one whose occlumency is such that you can't pull things from his head, has enough information to have you both fired, and the Headmaster placed in Azkaban for a minimum of five years must quite trying for you," Severus returned with false sympathy.

"Is that a threat?" Minerva bristled.

"No," Snape declared flatly. "It's an understanding. If I was to be truly expelled, I would not have been brought here to stew. You'd have snapped my wand and sent me on my way before the door to the Headmaster's office had finished closing. Instead, you wanted to blackmail me into something I would normally refuse. Probably something you need ears in Slytherin for. Possibly relating to mister Riddle. I am simply showing that I will not be bullied. Nor will I have anything to do with that madman or his ideals because you want to place someone close to him. We are on an even kilter here. You have knowledge that puts me in danger of ruining my life within the Wizarding World. I have information that does the same for you. That is why nothing will be done. We are at a stalemate," he explained.

"You seem privy to quite a bit of information. One might inquire where you got it," Albus finally said as he sat back a bit more in his chair and looked the boy over more carefully than before.

"I'm a Slytherin. The utter ruination and slander of our house reputation for centuries has forced us all to become survivors over the years. After all, you'll never hear about the likes of a Mad-Eye Moody or a Molly Prewett being Slytherins after they leave Hogwarts, just as you never hear that Grindewald was a Gryffindor. Most of us have to shed our very pride to survive in the world beyond these walls, but we learn to survive before we ever do. Information is a handy thing to keep you alive. As this little conversation proves," Severus replied.

"Indeed," Albus returned, a bit non-plussed.

After a pause to let what he had said sink in, Severus gave the Headmaster a shrewd look as he said, "There is something else that I know you might be interested in, Headmaster."

"And what is that?" Albus asked with a raise of his right brow.

"I know how to brew the Wolfsbane potion properly. Something Professor Slughorn can neither do for you, nor would he leave it unreported if he could," Severus said.

After a moment to contemplate what the young man was saying, he inquired, "Assuming I believe you capable of such a delicate potion, why would I believe you would supply it to me young man? What would you require for this… service."

Severus snorted, as if insulted Albus would think he wanted to blackmail him for the wolf's medicine, even if he knew this Albus lacked the reasons to trust him the old man had in his own history. The fact he offered it like that should have told him volumes. Gryffindors just didn't understand subtlety at all. "If you think I'm soliciting bribes from you, you are mistaken. All I would /require/ is a private lab space protected by a password and free of House Elf interference, the ingredients and tools to make the potion, and free time to brew it. What I will /ask/ for on top of that is time to do independent potions research without my head of house about to gush uselessly and distract me, your assurance the bloody wolf takes his medicine religiously, and the right to ask Lily Evans to assist me in brewing."

"The first parts seem simple enough. May I inquire as to why you asked for the last?" Albus asked as the twinkle returned to his eye.

"Nothing you're implying is remotely related to the request, I assure you," Severus stated flatly in that too adult tone that worried both professors immensely. "She is the most competent potion student here beside me, we work well together in class, she's a Gryffindor so she can assure Minerva I'm not trying to poison one of Potter's friends, if she learns to brew it you won't have to rely on me as your only source for the potion, and finally… she is my friend. I trust her. I hope you know enough about Slytherins to know just what that means," he added with a nod of satisfaction.

"I do. Certainly not as well as you, or Professor Slughorn, would but well enough. In fact, Alastor Moody, whom you mentioned earlier, once said the same regarding me. Although I'm a bit shocked you know of him. His days being praised as a hero to young Slytherins passed when he lost his eye, as I understand it," Albus ventured.

"True Slytherins don't forget their own. Not the ones of us worth remembering, anyway," Snape explained uncomfortably.

"Minerva and I will have to discuss your terms, but they don't seem unreasonable. You'll have an answer about them later in the week," Albus declared.

"You can not be serious, Albus! He's threatened us, and he used sorcery in from of dozens of students. Do you really think no one will notice that?" Minerva asked incredulously.

Snape snorted as he responded, "They'll see what they want to see. Wandless magic. The only students that could possible recognize structured sorcery for what it is are the ones that have sorcerous ancestors themselves, and they'll keep silent to avoid their own expulsion. For hell's sake, 90 percent of the first years are asleep for the /one sentence/ Binns devotes to the differences between Wizardry and Sorcery. I doubt most of the dunderheads awake for that sentence even understood it. You have little to fear from a single leak getting back to the Ministry. A few well placed rumors and it will be written off. I have more to face than you. My fellow Slytherins will be more curious than the other three houses."

"An interesting and insightful point, Severus," Albus cut in with a smile before Minerva could tear into the lad for swearing at her. "Now then, we have much to discuss, and you have earned a respite after your O.W.L. Please try to stay out of trouble," he added as a dismissal.

"I normally do. Maybe more a bit more 'constant vigilance' within your shared house would improve my efforts," Severus responded with a snort as he rose to leave. He nodded curtly both to Albus, and then to Minerva, as he said "Headmaster, Professor," and made his exit. As he left, he let his mental shields lift just enough that Albus could hear one thought. _It was worth this just to see you alive and well again you barmy old coot. Even if you are a manipulative general in grandfather's robes._

* * *

L-sama's chosen sorcerer managed perhaps a dozen steps out of the Headmaster's office, his head down looking at his feet as it tended to stay whenever he felt marginally safe from Marauder attack in his youth when he was forced to stop. There in front of him were a pair boots and the hem of a Hogwarts robe he knew all too well.

"Sev, I think we need to have a little talk," a dulcet voice sing-songed from a perfect pair of ruby lips.

Severus, who wanted to avoid this particular confrontation for as long as possible so he could organize just how he would approach it decided the best methods to use to make his escape were the classics; feigned ignorance and diversion. "Hello, Trixie. You're looking ravishing as always," he returned with a wide, childish grin. Bellatrix /loathed/ being referred to as 'Trixie'. this would certainly take her min doff of her intended path of conversation so that she could hex him. The compliment would only further confuse her. He never paid attention to her looks, despite her status as the most attractive Slytherin girl in their year.

Anger flashed across the heavily lidded eyes of Bellatrix Black for a moment, before she fell into a seductive grin that would make most young men her age throw themselves to the ground to lick at her heels. She knew it wouldn't affect her friend like that, of course, but it showed she had total control over emotions. "Nice try," she complimented with a lick of her lips.

Severus looked into her eyes for a moment before cursing to himself. "Bloody hell Bella! I get your point. I wont' fall for the sultry vixen pose anymore then you'll fall for my compliments. Now stop looking at me like that, you psychotic tomboy. You look like a constipated Hippogriff," he spat in annoyance.

Bella let out a little huff as she began to reach for her wand to teach her dear old friend some manners. In fact she had her hand on it before she checked herself and chuckled. "Again, nice try Sevvie-poo. You almost had me with that one. If I were Cissy you'd have pulled it off," she praised.

Severus rolled his eyes as he responded, "If you were Narcissa, I wouldn't have needed to go past the compliment."

"True enough," Bella agreed with a bell-like little laugh that warmed Severus' heart as he finally realized he was seeing Bellatrix as she was meant to be once again. A proud and beautiful young woman, not the half-mad Azkaban escapee of her later years. "Now walk with me, oh glorious Half Blood Prince. We have… /thing/ to discuss," she commanded as she began to walk toward an unused tower hallway they made use of for more private conversations. Delicate information was never shared in the Slytherin common room. It was called the 'Viper's Pit' by the students of Hogwarts for more than just the serpentine mascot of the Slytherin house, after all.

The pair walked for a good while before Bella finally grew frustrated enough to snap, "Well?"

"It's not like you ever mentioned you were from a sorcerous line either, Bella," Snape responded finally. He was furiously trying to think of a way to play this conversation to his ultimate advantage, and to further his ultimate goals. Namely, save Bella, keep Lily alive, and /try/ to save Lucius if at all feasible.

"How?" the youngest Black daughter asked incredulously.

"I'm well enough trained to sense it in you, Bella," Severus explained. A part of him wanted to leave it at that. But another, deeper part felt that wasn't the right path. _L-sama only set two rules for me. Don't prevent Potter's spawn from being born, and don't kill Riddle until Harry has been marked. Would it be worth it? Could it save her? Maybe this is how it should be done._ he mused in his head.

"What are you thinking about so hard, git?" Bella asked playfully as she read the expression on his face.

"What I can safely tell you. I've come into some delicate information, and I'm not sure what's safe to reveal yet," Severus admitted.

"You'll tell me everything," Bella confidently responded.

"Oh?" Severus asked with a teasing grin spawned by her attitude.

"Yes. I'm a lady of the most Noble House of Black. You will bend to my every will and desire, lowly peasant half-blood." she teased.

"I'm no peasant, Bella. And my father's no true muggle. Surely you can see that now," Severus replied with a smirk.

"And yet, I am still your queen there to command you," Bellatrix shot back haughtily.

Severus stopped to look deep into her eyes for several tense moments before he finally cracked into a grin, followed by a smile, then a chuckle, and finally full blown laughter.

Bella tried to keep up her serious act in the face of her friend's growing mirth, but it was a loosing battle lost in a matter of seconds. Soon she was laughing as well. "You should laugh like that more often," she advised with a nudge to his hip after they calmed a bit.

"As amusing as the heart attacks most of the people outside of Slytherin would develop over that sight, you know I can't show that kind of weakness. I'm in a four to one war right now. Well, two and a half to one, plus one spectator in Lupin, but you know what I mean," Snape returned ruefully.

"Oh bollocks. You proved your strength plenty today. Its' about time you stood up to my arse of a cousin and his bun-buddy like that," Bella retorted. "Granted, I expected it to come from a Sectumsempra or an untraceable poison, but a fireball and a Mono Volt works too. I'm just shocked your pet mud blood didn't freak out on you. She actually looked pleased from what I saw from the back of the crowd. Even proud of you. You been practicing Imperious without me or something?"

"Perish the thought," Snape replied with an eye roll. "You're one of a handful of students here that thinks, Bella. Do try to employ that brain of yours. If I'm mislabeled as a half-blood, who's to say what other skilled 'mudbloods' might have slipped through the cracks?" Severus inquired leadingly.

"You mean?" Bella inquired with wide eyes. This would vastly change her world view if Severus confirmed his hints. After all sorcerers didn't distinguish between pure bloods and mixed bloods. You either had the talent or not. Therefore all sorcerous descendants by way of tradition were not muggle. They were considered as magical as any pureblood no matter their pedigree or skill levels. It was a tradition that predated Merlin himself by millennia.

"Indeed. In fact she even trumps our own bloodlines. She is the youngest heirless to the house of Sailoon. And has the talent for white sorcery to back it up," Snape confided in low whispers.

Bella's reaction, however, was not nearly so subtle. She slapped Severus as hard as she could on the arm, eliciting a squawk of pain from him as she hissed, "And you let me call her a mudblood? You bloody let he harass you for talking to her? You arse, I've made an absolute harpy out of myself because of you."

"It wasn't my secret to tell, Bella. And I had no idea how to bring it up. Besides now you know," Severus replied in a placating tone.

"Then why are you telling it now?" the girl asked anxiously after she thought over his response.

Severus sighed in self-defeat as he replied, "Because I have a great deal more to tell, and it will involve her as well. Meet me in the old Occlumency room in two hours, and I'll fill you in."

"What? Why two hours? Why not now?" Bella asked in shock.

Severus smiled a smile of resignation as he responded, "Because I have to sneak into the Gryff common room and inform her Majesty so she can join us. If I'm telling this tale, I only intend to tell it once."

And with that he turned back out to exit the corridor and left Bella to her thoughts.

END PART THREE


End file.
